The growth and competition in the casino gaming market in recent years and the increasingly sophisticated and complex technology being integrated into the gaming environment, at the individual game, casino management, and auditing levels, presents both challenges and opportunities to game manufacturers, gaming establishment operators, and regulatory agencies. The technological capabilities and requirements of, for example, advanced electronic games, multi-site gaming operations, detailed player tracking, wide area progressive jackpots, and various alternatives to the use of currency and coins by players, all present a potentially huge pool of ever-changing data which can be of great value to casino operators (from a management standpoint) and to regulators from an audit/compliance standpoint.
One area that has received a lot of attention in recent years has been providing added bonuses or incentives to players of electronic gaming machines, such as video slot machines video poker machines. An award may be selected at random or be based on a player's previous level of play. Once a player has met the selected criteria, the award in credits paid from the machine's hopper is released.
Players may also be given an incentive through a player tracking club. Usually, a player is identified during play by a player tracking ID card and/or a player identification number (PIN). The player tracking system tracks the player's play and awards player tracking points according to established criteria. The player tracking points may be redeemed for prizes, such as complimentary meals or merchandise.
Typically, the player track ID card is entered into a player ID card located on the electronic gaming machine. A separate, numeric key pad is used to enter the PIN. Furthermore, a separate display screen may be used to display information or instructions to the player.
However, standard systems are inflexible and do not provide the casino operator with the maximum benefit and advantages available from the information and systems now available.
Another problem is that the various components of the player tracking system, especially the display (e.g. touch screen) and/or input (e.g., keypads) components typically include a mechanical switch or push button that requires some sort of human interaction to operate. Traditionally, push buttons are made out of mechanical switches and/or multi-layer resistive touch pads that can deteriorate and become less dependable over time. This is because most of these switches require physical displacement and pressure which are susceptible to wear-out, contact bounce, corrosion and arcing. Another problem is the soiling of the display and input components, e.g., from drinks and/or food served in the gaming establishments, thus requiring frequent cleaning by the staff, player complaints about soiled gaming stations, and decreased utilization of the available gaming stations.
The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems as set forth above.